Stuart King
18 Oct
Reviews 
Review: PORTIA COUGHLAN at Almeida
By Stuart King Wednesday, October 18 2023, 10:07
Melancholy currently pervades the air of the Almeida stage as a family living in the rural Irish midlands is forced to come to terms with survivor’s guilt and familial recriminations.
Portia Coughlan, Almeida Theatre. Kathy Kiera Clarke and Alison Oliver. Credit Marc Brenner
11 Oct
Reviews
Review: IOLANTHE at London Coliseum
By Stuart King Wednesday, October 11 2023, 17:10
Directed by Cal McCrystal with a set and costumes by the late and much lamented Paul Brown, this revival from 2018 is a wonderfully frolicsome flower in ENO’s buttonhole and captures all of Gilbert and Sullivan’s joyful nonsense. With a splash of modern playfulness (and even a pinch of vulgarity secreted amidst the coded messaging and spoofed political appearances), IOLANTHE is a blast of energy, irreverence, and fun, from start to finish.
The Cast of ENO’s Iolanthe 2023 © Craig Fuller
10 Oct
Reviews
Review: GENTLEMEN at Arcola
By Stuart King Tuesday, October 10 2023, 09:25
A full 1,296 days after it was originally due to open, Matt Parvin’s GENTLEMEN —set amidst the environs of academia — finally shakes off its Covid cloak and reaches an audience. Under the direction of Richard Speir the play was fortunate enough to benefit from an Arts Council England grant and monies from other worthy benefactors on its journey to opening night at the Arcola. So was it worth the extended wait?
Gentlemen at the Arcola Theatre. Photo Alex Brenner.
08 Oct
Reviews
Review: STEPHEN SONDHEIM’S OLD FRIENDS at the Gielgud Theatre
By Stuart King Sunday, October 8 2023, 10:02
Surely one of the most hotly anticipated theatrical events of the year is STEPHEN SONDHEIM’S OLD FRIENDS whose run at the Gielgud Theatre follows a previously sold-out gala performance which celebrated the great man by revisiting much of the extraordinary output he created during his lifetime.
Jeremy Secomb and the Company of Old Friends. Photo by Danny Kaan
06 Oct
Reviews
Review: NOISES OFF at The Haymarket Theatre Royal
By Stuart King Friday, October 6 2023, 10:22
Taking its title from the stage direction appearing in scripts to indicate sounds coming from off-stage, NOISES OFF is widely considered Michael Frayn’s masterpiece of farce which was conceived as long ago as 1970 as he watched Lynn Redgrave perform in a (not especially funny) play, which the author realised was far funnier when observed from backstage.
Felicity Kendal and Jonathan Coy in Noises Off. Credit Nobby Clark.
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